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Grant-maintained Schools

Mr. Robert Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many primary schools in England and Wales have opted into grant-maintained status; and what are the average league tables scores for (a) grant-maintained schools and (b) schools under local education authority control. [20675]

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Mrs. Gillan: There are now 486 grant-maintained primary schools in England. Pupil attainments are generally higher in GM schools than LEA schools; details of their relative performance in national curriculum assessments and GCSE examinations are given in the following tables.

Grant-maintained schools in Wales are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

Table 1: Percentage of 7-year-old pupils achieving National Curriculum level 2 and above, 1996

EnglishMathematicsScience
Key stage 1TATestTATestTATest
LEA schools79--828284--
Reading7878--------
Writing7680--------
Speaking and listening82----------
GM schools85--868788--
Reading8484--------
Writing8285--------
Speaking and listening85----------

TA = teacher assessment.

Test = national test.


Table 2: Percentage of 11-year-old pupils achieving National Curriculum level 4 and above, 1996

English Mathematics Science
Key stage 2TATestTATestTATest
LEA schools605760546562
GM schools646364606968

TA = teacher assessment.

Test = national test.


Table 3: Percentage of 14-year-old pupils achieving National Curriculum level 5 and above, 1996

English Mathematics Science
Key stage 3TATestTATestTATest
LEA schools605661565955
GM schools686569656865

TA= teacher assessment.

Test = national test.


Table 4: Percentage of 15-year-old pupils achieving graded GCSE results in 1996

GCSE passes5 A+-C5 A+-G1+ A-G
4A: all schools
LEA schools40.687.193.4
GM schools50.191.195.3
4B: comprehensive schools only
LEA comprehensives40.087.093.3
GM comprehensives46.491.195.6

Football Pools Industry

Mr. Parry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate she has made of the change in the number of jobs in the football pools industry in (a) Liverpool and (b) Merseyside since the national lottery was established; and if she will make a statement. [20769]

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Mr. Paice: The Government are aware that some jobs are being lost in the football pools industry on Merseyside. We naturally regret job losses in any sector of the economy. While jobs will inevitably disappear as markets change in a successful and vibrant economy they will be replaced by new jobs providing new products and services. On balance, over 900,000 extra jobs have been created in Britain over the last four years, and unemployment on Merseyside has fallen by nearly 30,000. A wide range of employment and training measures is available to help those who lose their jobs take advantage of the employment growth currently taking place in the UK.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Customer Charters

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department and its executive agencies have spent drafting, publishing and circulating each of their customer charters and customer standard documents; and how many copies of each document have been issued. [19382]

Sir John Wheeler: Seven charters and 25 charter standard statements have been published by Government Departments and agencies in Northern Ireland. The table gives details of the cost of publication and circulation of the charters and charter statements and the number issued in each case. Individual public service organisations are responsible for producing and distributing their own charters for those who use their services. The table shows costs of production and distribution in so far as they are available centrally.

The drafting of charters and charter standard statements is generally carried out as an integral part of the work of the services concerned and therefore the cost of drafting is not available.

Northern Ireland charters and charter standard statements

Charter/charter standard statementCosts of publication and circulation (£)Number of copies issued
Charters
Northern Ireland Citizen's Charter34,2003,500
Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland: "Our Service Standards"22,77634,000
Parents Charter114,000347,000
Further Education29,50031,000
Patients and Clients Charter87,11018,000
Social Security Agency6,88516,000
Child Support Agency4,1353,700
Charter statement
Northern Ireland Citizen's Charter Unit1,16111,000
Rivers Agency3,3001,100
Training and Employment Agency43,96860,000
Redundancy Service2,80013,000
Trading Standards Branch3,8381,370
Industrial Research and Technology Unit3,200200
Government Purchasing Agency1,9339,500
Valuation and Lands Agency1,4854,000
Statistics and Research Agency2,220410
Community Services36,132100,000
Maternity Services14,041100,000
Driver and Vehicle Licensing (NI)2,9302,750
Public Record Office (NI)875630
Planning Service8,0001,500
Rate Collection Agency4,4434,700
Construction Service1,1301,400
Roads Service7,5437,800
Water Service8,4407,000
Land Registry of Northern Ireland8,0001,500
Environmental and Heritage Service10,0006,800
Belfast Action Teams8,2455,000
Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency1,8005,000
Northern Ireland Prison Service 4,8108,500
Prison Visitors 8,500
Compensation Agency2,0001,400

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Ceasefire

Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what savings to public funds he estimates occurred as a result of the IRA ceasefire; and if he will indicate where these sums were spent, breaking the figures down by heading. [19363]

Sir John Wheeler: Following the provisional IRA and loyalist ceasefires, the 1994 Northern Ireland public expenditure survey identified some £180 million over the period 1995-96 to 1997-98 which could be prudently reallocated from the plans for the law and order budget. The 1995 survey identified a further £106 million which could be reallocated from the Police Authority for Northern Ireland grant over the period 1996-97 to 1998-99. In addition to the survey changes, it was possible to release a further £12 million and £13 million during 1994-95 and 1995-96 respectively, largely from the PANI grant.

Resources reallocated from law and order, together with other easements internal to the Northern Ireland block, are included in an undifferentiated pool of resources available for reallocation within the block. Moreover, the pool of resources is also affected by external changes driven by national fiscal policy--that is, the Northern Ireland totals were reduced in the 1994 survey and increased in the 1995 survey. Consequently, while it is not possible to identify allocations to individual programmes as coming specifically from law and order, it is a fact that the totals allocated to Northern Ireland programmes, other than those from which the law and order savings were withdrawn, were enhanced by the value of those savings.

As a result of the breakdown of the PIRA ceasefire in February 1996, and of major public order problems, some £36 million had to be reallocated back into the PANI grant

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and compensation for 1996-97 and a further £120 million added back in the 1996 survey, covering the plans for the period 1997-98 to 1998-00.

Harryville Chapel Protest

Dr. Hendron: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many police officers have been injured while policing the protest at Harryville chapel.[19830]

Sir John Wheeler: Ten police officers have been injured while policing the protests at Harryville.

Dr. Hendron: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many police officers have been deployed at the Harryville chapel protest over the past 26 weekends. [19832]

Sir John Wheeler: The average number of police officers deployed at Harryville chapel at weekends since Saturday 14 September 1996 is 180.

Dr. Hendron: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people (a) from and (b) from outside the Ballymena area have been arrested or cautioned over incidents related to the protest at Harryville chapel. [19831]

Sir John Wheeler: Twenty persons from the Ballymena area have been arrested in relation to incidents at Harryville chapel. One arrest has been made from outside Ballymena sub-division.

Dr. Hendron: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the cost of the policing operation at Harryville chapel in Ballymena for the past 26 weekends. [19829]

Sir John Wheeler: The cost of the policing operation at Harryville chapel from Saturday 14 September 1996 to Saturday 1 March 1997 has been calculated at £984,000, including all police manpower and associated costs.


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